European Union competition regulators have warned Meta Platforms that they may impose interim measures to stop the company from blocking rival artificial intelligence services from its WhatsApp messaging platform.
The European Commission said on Monday that it has sent a statement of objections to Meta, accusing the U.S. tech giant of abusing a dominant position by restricting access to WhatsApp’s Business API.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said regulators were considering swift intervention to prevent potential harm to competition while the investigation continues.
“We must protect effective competition in this vibrant field,” Ribera said. “That is why we are considering quickly imposing interim measures on Meta, to preserve access for competitors to WhatsApp while the investigation is ongoing.”
Meta implemented a policy change on January 15 that allows only its own Meta AI assistant to operate on WhatsApp, effectively excluding rival AI chatbots.
Meta rejected the Commission’s position, saying there was no justification for regulatory intervention.
“There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites and industry partnerships,” a Meta spokesperson said, adding that regulators were wrong to treat the WhatsApp Business API as a critical distribution channel for AI tools.
The Commission said its decision on interim measures would depend on Meta’s response and legal defence. The probe mirrors similar action taken by Italy’s competition authority in December, though a Brazilian court last month suspended an interim order against Meta on the same issue.
The case highlights the EU’s continued push to enforce antitrust rules against major U.S. technology companies despite criticism from Washington.
